Nest Software Update Leaves Users Without Heat

What happens when your smart home devices receive a bad update that make them not-so-smart anymore? Many Nest owners are finding out the answer to that exact question this week. Users have reported a variety of issues suddenly occurring, from dead devices to overworked heating systems.

They say that a device is only as smart as the user. However, I would argue that they're also only as smart at the updates that they receive. Last month, Nest released a software update, 5.1.3, which for a time, didn't seem to cause any issues. However, for some reason this week, an issue with that update began wreaking havoc on many users' heating and cooling systems.

The main issue that caused so many cold homes this week appears to be related to the battery. Namely, the battery seems to be draining quickly, which also causes the motion-sensors to not function properly. Users have reported everything from units being completely non-functional, to waking up in the middle of the night to find it heating the house to "evening" temperatures.

Thankfully, Nest seems to be taking care of the situation, with 99.5% of the devices being fixed. While that's good to hear, there are a few things in life that you want to make sure are working at all times. A thermostat that fails during the coldest week of the winter (thus far, in my state) is completely unacceptable.

VIA: ZDNet